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VITAL STATISTICS
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BORN: 1818 in Columbus, OH.
DIED: 1885 in San Francisco, CA.
CAMPAIGNS: Manassas and Shendoah.
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Major General
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BIOGRAPHY
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| Irvin McDowell was born in Columbus, Ohio on October 14, 1818. After graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1838, he taught tactics there, and served in the Mexican War. After the war, he served as a staff officer in the adjutant general's office in Washington. When the Civil War began, McDowell was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on May 14, 1861. Defeated by Brig. Gen. Beauregard at Manassas Junction in July of 1861, he was placed in command of a corps. McDowell was promoted to major general in March of 1862, and sent to protect Washington, D. C. After Confederate Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's successes in the Shenandoah Valley, which President Lincoln saw as a threat to the national capital, McDowell participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Partially blamed for the Union's failure at Bull Run, McDowell was not given a field command for the rest of the war. Sent to the Department of the Pacific in 1864, he was later appointed commander of departments in the South and West. He retired in 1882, and died on May 4, 1885, in San Francisco, California. |
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